<p>On 26 September, Executive member of the Corsican regional authority Ms Marie Antoinette Maupertuis met with European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu, Member of the European Parliament and Vice Chairman of the EP Searica Intergroup Tonino Picula and the Economic and Social Committee member S. Mallia to discuss the challenges of islands and cohesion policy.</p><p>During the meeting the members of the CoR, European Parliament and EESC highlighted the cohesion policy's fundamental role in addressing the needs of all regions, in particular those suffering from geographic and demographic constraints, and called on the European Commission to place special attention to island territories.</p><p>Ms Maupertuis, who is also CoR rapporteur on entrepreneurship on islands, stated that we need to develop a new methodology that would allow islanders to fully benefit from the single market and that the support through cohesion policy is now needed more than ever to cope with the higher costs faced by island businesses and citizens.<br></p>

<p>​A delegation from the British-Irish Parliamentary Association met the CoR President and a number of members of the CoR including Cllr Tony Buchanan, Vice Chair of the EA group.</p><p>The group discussed BREXIT implications for local and regional government, the work of the CoR and in particular the Conference of Presidents' engagement with regional and local governments. Cllr Buchanan said that while it is the position of the British Government to leave, this is not the wish of Scotland and every solution needs to also respect the Scottish perspective.<br></p>

European Alliance Group President says Spanish Government action in Catalonia must be condemned by the European Union

<p>During an informative briefing on the upcoming Catalan referendum of self-determination organised by the EA Group in the Committee of the Regions, Amadeu Altafaj, the representative of the Government of Catalonia to the European Union defended the democratic legitimacy of its government to follow on the mandate received from the Catalan people and its Parliament.</p><p>On the 1st October the Catalan people will have an opportunity to freely express their opinion on the right of Catalonia to self-determination and a massive, peaceful participation would be the best response to the acts of repression and intimidation by the Spanish Government.</p><p>The European Alliance President Karl Vanlouwe and Member of the Flemish Parliament, called on the European Union institutions to condemn the heavy handed and oppressive tactics of the Spanish Government in Catalonia. No EU Member State should be allowed to erode civil rights and democratic principles which are the basis of our common European project. The people of Catalonia have a democratic right to express their wishes through the ballot box and it is not acceptable that the freedoms taken for granted in the European Union are being suppressed by the Spanish Government.</p>

<p>​Cllr Hughie McGrath, Tipperary County Council hosted a delegation from the European Alliance Group in the European Committee of the Regions to discuss EU policies to regenerate town centres. The Group members are elected politicians from across Europe including Poland, Romania, Estonia, Scotland and Flanders. The objective was to examine how EU funding and policies needs to be adjusted to reflect also the needs of towns and their centres.</p><p>Cllr McGrath said that he has raised on many occasions the need to look at rural towns and he felt it was important that people see the situation on the ground and in particular in Nenagh. He further added that towns lose out on funding due to the fact they are too small to be eligible for urban funding but too big to receive rural funding and this needs to change.</p><p>The President of the European Alliance Group and Member of the Flemish Parliament Mr Karl Vanlouwe welcomed the invitation to Nenagh and highlighted that the situation of town centres was similar across the European Union and clearly EU policies needed to adapt and reflect the reality of towns.</p><p>Participants in the meeting included Members of the Dáil (Irish Parliament), Jackie Cahill TD (Fianna Fáil) and Alan Kelly TD (Labour). The delegation will meet local politicians, Tipperary County Council manager the director of the Southern Regional Assembly and local chambers of commerce.<br></p>

BREXIT the focus of European Alliance bureau meeting in the Irish Houses of Parliament

<p>​The implication of BREXIT on Ireland and the European Union was the focus of the European Alliance bureau visit to the Houses of the Oireachtas (Parliament) in Dublin on this week. The delegation met with Mr Darragh O'Brien, TD, Fianna Fáil spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Trade who outlined the worrying aspects of BREXIT for the Irish Economy and its Citizens and also a call for a "special economic zone" for Northern Ireland.</p><p>The delegation also held a meeting with Senator Neale Richmond, Fine Gael Senate spokesperson on Europe and also Chair of the Special Select Committee on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. He outlined the impact of BREXIT on a range of areas of relevance to local and regional governments.</p><p>European Alliance President Karl Vanlouwe said that it was fundamentally important to ensure that everyone was aware of the implications of BREXIT and that this is subject to ongoing discussions in the Flemish Parliament. He in particular drew attention to the ports of Flanders as one of many examples where it would have an impact. He welcomed the discussions with the Irish Members of the Dáil and Seanad.<br></p>